TIRANA, Jan. 21 – Three people have been killed and dozens injured. That is the result of the opposition demonstration Friday in extensive anti-government clashes outside the prime minister’s office.
That was the worse violence to affect the volatile Balkan country in more than a decade, or since 1998 when the same thing done from the then-opposition Democratic party after the murder of their lawmaker.
Following during several hours of rioting outside the office of conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Tirana Military Hospital and the Mother Teresa one reported the three deaths (shot from close by) and some 55 other injured _ 25 policemen and soldiers of the national Guard and 30 civilians.
Thousands of people tried to gather at Martyrs of the Nation Boulevard from capital Tirana and all around the country. The opposition claimed many were hampered from police in other cities, which was denied from the law enforcement institution.
People chanted “Get out, Get Out!” referring to Berisha.
Demonstrators waving red-and-black Albanian flags gathered at the Tirana’s main Boulevard of Martyrs, chanting “Get Out, Get out!”
Clashes broke out when several hundred protesters broke away from the main group of protesters to challenge a riot police cordon.
The demonstrators did not attempt to force their way into the government building, only throwing stones, their slogans and umbrellas against policemen.
Shots were heard time and again together with strong noises of blasts of grenades and tear gas.
The Socialist party demands that Berisha call early elections over because of a scandal over alleged corruption.
Protesters overturned and torched police and other cars, broke window glasses of the government building and the Twin Towers nearby, smashed paving stones and hurled them at riot police and reached the steps of the government building.
Police responded with tear gas, plastic bullets and water canon.
At nightfall, hundreds of riot policemen and National Guard officers swept through the center of Albania’s capital, beating protesters with batons and detaining dozens of youths. Many were seen being arrested from police.
The violence follows months of tension between the government and opposition Socialists that was rekindled this week by allegations of corruption.
The opposition, let by the Socialist Party, called for early elections after Prime Minister Berisha’s deputy resigned over allegations of bribery in a power plant tender.
The Socialists have accused Prime Minister Berisha’s conservative Democratic Party of rigging the 2009 general election, which it won by a narrow margin. The next general election is not scheduled until 2013.
Albania, a new member of NATO, is eager to show an improvement in its election standards and democratic institutions to gain eventual European Union membership.
Reactions, calls
President Bamir Topi urged rival political leaders to start an urgent dialogue to defuse the tension.
“The President of the republic calls for calm and maturity …. to guarantee a return of the public order as soon as possible,” he said.
Opposition leader Edi Rama also called for calm, but said Berisha should also heed the message from the mass protest.
“My call is for the so-called prime minister not to go any further down the blind alley,” he said.
Rama also went at the Military Hospital to meet with the injured.
At a briefing after the news on the three deaths, Rama said they would continue their political fight.
“I assure all of you that we shall continue our effort, more convinced and determined, because the way out is clear _ either a free Albania for all, or the people subdued under the heel of that barbarous power,” he said.
Strong Berisha reaction
In what seemed to be a strong challenge to the opposition’s demonstration Prime Minister Sali Berisha directly accused the opposition and its leader of trying to organize a putsch to occupy all the government building and come to power by force through a “Tunisian scenario” using the “phalanges of crime, groups of bandits, traffickers and terrorists no more than 200-300 persons”, adding they will be held accountable on that.
Berisha said that the organizers of the Tunisian scenario held full responsibility for the deaths and the injuries.
“The total responsibility (for the three dead) falls on the organizers of the Tunisian scenario.”
“Institutions will be defended with any price and no one can violate them,” he said, also responding to the opposition’s request for early elections saying the next ones would be held in 2013.
The premier did not offer any way out like negotiations or any other solution with the opposition, repeating they only respect the laws.
“The one who thinks to achieve elections by force will be able to do that only if he sees his ear without a mirror,” said the premier.
US, EU and OSCE call for calm
The United States Embassy, the European Union Delegation and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued a joint statement to “deeply regret that today’s demonstration in Tirana was not peaceful and resulted in some casualties. Violence and excessive use of force cannot be justified and should be avoided. We urgently appeal for calm and restraint on all sides and to abstain from provocations.”
They renewed the call for “constructive dialogue and compromise to resolve the existing political differences.”
The U.S. Embassy had also called a day earlier for the protest to be peaceful and called on politicians, too, to tone down their inflammatory rhetoric.
The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, called on all in Albania to refrain from using violence.
“Dialogue and co-operation could contribute to resolving the problems Albania is facing. Violence and provocative statements only aggravate the situation.”
